"These guys up here are smart," Hamilton said. "They'll hold the ball longer. I get too anxious. It's a learning process. I'm learning as I go. When I see a move, the next time I'll know what's happening."

Hamilton goes mostly by the scouting report.

"The paper tells you what kind of move they have," Hamilton said. "It tells you if they have a quick step, when they pick or if they have a balk move. I don't watch that much video of them. I do a little bit but not as much as I should."

Hamilton is extremely aggressive on the bases. The Reds want to keep that -- within reason.

"He's definitely in learning mode," Price said. "There's no doubt. We're between that place of wanting him to have his freedom -- I don't want to say freedom -- but be liberated to run and also have enough discipline to know when not to run."

Price takes some responsibility for Hamilton getting caught.

"I can put the hold on," Price said. "We've talked about the effect that he has on our offense when he doesn't run. It's a work in progress. It's whole different level of play."

Hamilton stole at an 82.9 percent success rate in the minors. At Triple-A last year, he was caught 15 times in 90 attempts (83.3 percent).

"These guys (in the majors) can do certain things at a high level," Price said, "like vary times to the plate, be quicker to the plate and really challenge him. He's being challenged at a whole other level. . .

"They're saying we're going to keep this guy close come hell or high water. We'd like to see him pick better opportunities to run. But the processes are in place. I think you'll see a better base-runner."

Price sees this as blip.

"I have a feeling if he stays healthy, he'll be the premier base-stealer of his generation," Price said.